William a



(No Models) W. A'. LEE. I

MECHANISM FOROPERATING STREET GAR'SWITGHES. .3 Patented Oct. 28, 1890;

qwitmeooeo wiLL AMA. LEE, or. recent, armors;

" BCHKNYSM -Q NQ isms-CAR sweets;

T011112 whom it may concerni- ';Be'itknown that 1, WILLIAM zen of the United States, residing at Peoria, in the conntyof Peoria and State of Illinois,-

5 have invented certain new'and useful Improvements in Mechanism for Operating Street-Oar Switches; and I do declare the folf lowing to-be a full, clear, and exact description o'f'thej' invention; such as will enable to others skilled in the art to which itappertains I to make and use thesame, reference being had as the accompanying drawings; and to the letf tors oi reference markedthereomwhi ch form apart ofthis spcificationi 1 v 15 Pl Th's invention relates to'certainnewand useful improvements in means for operating street-car switches; and it has for its object ,to' generally improve upon the construction and render-more efficient in operation that ism which is adapted tobe. operated by the drivers of horse-cars or gripmen or other 0p- 'erators .ofeither-cable: or'electric cars; and 1 which will serve'to properlyadjusttheswitch i 25. without necessitating the stoppage of the car. Y 2 T 'i' iv e n" 'fisiefiiit ff; 'a'r range the operative parts of-the'switch-opcrating mechanism thaffthejcan byno posgojaceurnulatioii offdu'stor'dirtlv a "'The device is simple-andmexpenswe in ofordei-Q- Provision foi 'permitting ready ac --c'ess to the parts 'isp'rovidedam the-parts. 35 whichwoiild belliabletobe afiected eitherby; wear or by changes in temperature are madeadjustable.

To the above ends and to" such others as the a invention may pertain the'samefc'onsists in 7 4c the pecnliar construction and in the novel combination, arrangement, and adaptation of parts, all as more fully hereinafter described,

vviews, and in which drawings A. LEE, a citi- 20 class of street-car switch-operating--mechan-.

erjcbject to so any manner togthe niiretrstwc the if, ."construction an dfwillnot beliable to getpnt 55bindicating like parts throughout the several;

1 Figure lis'a top plan view of a portion j amines forming part or ream-s 2mm; in). 4e9,a54,,dateu October 28,1896. f

'- .flpplicaticn'flled lay in, 1890'. than No. 353,389 (No model.)

a street-car track provided with myituprovei operatingrnechanism. Fig. 2 is a cross-sed- 'tionthroughthe switch uponthe line at amt 55 Fig. 1, showing also the end'of a car, with the switch-operating rods. Fig. 3 is a perspeetive'detail view ofthe frog and its connections. 1 Reference now being had to thedetail's o 6c the drawings by letter, A A 'repr'esent'the'r rails of the main track,'and B B the railszoi-""'; the siding or switch; 1 O isa casting,'which is bolted or. otherwise securely attached to the bedti'mb'ersB and 65,"- Bhwhich timbers are secnredtotheroadsbed A midway betweenthe tra'cks'of the mainline. in such a position that'the space B betiveen' the timbers isdirectly opposite'the movable end of the pivoted frog 0 2 9 7 o S'ecured to the fupper end of "the verti ijl shaft D, which asses th rough a suitable open ing-in 'the'ca'sting Oqatjiapointi niidwaylazbe tween the timbers-Bfland Bfi isith angleileg} ver D, which lever is -adaptediwhenitufned as hereinafter described,"tof swe t earts: upper face of the casting wg arii blocks a a heing provided hpeg ithe gl der ide of the lever at'th'ends of thqm i and D .The lcwerei d dfthe manna? ported in": thefp'late B2,;said"g1'afaibeing r E; said'plete biiiQQQilfedatjtQiidstflthii lower Iacesic'if theiiihhers BtihnfitBFgiWlg body ofthe shaft Bbetweenthd plate Ef'finfd the casting e isgeniarged;andisipreffl a i v squareih'cross-seetion. "'Ifh'e platelinisid' 'withan open ended slot .E 'to' allowotathein jsertion of the lower end-of the shaft ng-i-ana- L the plate E is adjustahiyor pivotalsly 'conr .9? -necteiilte the'plate'E' by thebolton-piqo'tilgi so that said plate E may be adjusted ormoved v on said bolt or pivot to admit of the insertion of the lower end of the shaft D, and then tightened to retain it in its adjusted position; 9;

p F is a rod which'isattached at one of its 7 ends to theend of the horizontal arm F, which projects from one side of the body portion'ef s. the shaft D, the other end of the rod beingat-Z tached to the lower face of the pivoted frog and F serving both as guides for the rod'a'ndQ also'eerfling to strengthen the parts. The point 0' -is 'pivoted in the usual man 0' near its free end, aszshown, the plates F? a,

- at F to receive the point when the same is same.

thrown inwardly, so as to cause the passing car to leave the main line and enter the siding. The said block also serves to limit the throw of the point, as will be readily understood.

The upper face of the casting 0, adjacent to the angle-lever D',is the substantially triangular raised portion C*, which, with the raised ribs C at the outer edges of thecasting, serves to guide the switch-operating rods connected to the car-platform, which will be presently described.

The bed-piece G of the point C is provided with a series of openings b I), through which openings the dust, dirt, or other substances which would otherwise tend to clog the path of the point and interfere with the free movement of the same pass a suitable receptaole, as the box H, being provided to catch the Said box H is provided with a suitable cover H upon the outside of the track, which serves as a means for permitting the removal of the contents of the box when desired.

I Iare what I term the pedal-rods. They are passed vertically through the platform J and are provided at their upper ends with the foot-pieces J The spiral springs J 2 upon the rods I serve to hold the rods normally in such position that the foot-rests J will be about eight inches above the platform and the lower ends of the rods will be substantiallythe same distance above the level of the road-bed.

It will be observed that the pedal-rods are so placed that, depressed in passing over the casting 0 between the tracks, the said rods will enter the space between the raised por- Jion O and raised portion or rib 0 upon the upper face of the casting, one of the said rods being adapted to pass upon one side of the poirtion C and the other upon the opposite 51 e.

The operation of the device is simple, and from the foregoing description will be readily understood. We will, for example, suppose that the movable point C is set in such a position as to cause the car to leave the main line and pass upon the switch or siding; but it is desired that the approaching car shall continue upon the main track, thus rendering it necessary that the position of the frog should be changed. The driver or gripman upon the front platform of the car places his foot upon the foot-rest at the upper end of the pedal-rod upon the right-hand side, depressing the said rod, and the lower end of the rod entering the space upon the right-hand side of the portion .0 will be guided to the right-hand arm of the angle-lever D, throwing said lever to the left and moving the point through the means of the connections between the angle-lever and point, as will be readily understood. It will also be seen that by depressing the opposite pedal-rod the point will be caused to turn in the opposite direction and will be setfor the main track.

In order to prevent either mud or snow and ice from interfering with the free movement of the pedal-rods, I have provided a casting K, directly beneath the front edge of the carplatforln, through which the said rods are passed. It will be readily seen that this box-- ing will serve to effectually prevent the accumulation of mud or ice upon the body of the rods.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination, with the casting C between the main tracks and formed upon its upper face with triangular raised portion C and triangular ribs 0 of the angle-lever D, pivoted to the casting opposite the portion C and provided with wearingplates a, the-side tracks, the pivoted frog 0, the vertical shaft D, passed through an opening in said casting and connected at its upper end to the lever D, the plate E, formed with openended slot E the plate E, adj ustably held to the plate E,

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in to:

presence of two witpesses.

WILLIAM A.-LEE.

Witnesses:

EMERY A. NEILL, HENRY M. Goss. 

